Books For Keeps
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Articles
  • Past Issues
  • Latest Issue
  • Authors and Artists
  • Latest News
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
July 5, 2016/in Fiction 14+ Secondary/Adult /by Angie Hill
BfK Rating:
BfK 219 July 2016
Reviewer: Lucy Staines
ISBN: 978-1474923835
Price: £7.99
Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd
Genre: Fiction
Age Range: 14+ Secondary/Adult
Length: 304pp
Buy the Book

If I Was Your Girl

Author: Meredith Russo

If I Was Your Girl opens with a letter from author Meredith Russo to her readers explaining that she is a trans woman, and that the book is ‘the story I needed when I was 14, confused, and hungry for someone to tell me things were going to be okay.’ The novel that follows is honest, moving and indeed full of hope.

Amanda was born a boy, but has always known she should have been a girl. After a serious suicide attempt she is diagnosed with gender identity disorder and begins the process of physical transition. Her mum supports her but after constant bullying at school and a violent physical attack she decides to move to live with her dad in a small Tennessee town, where no-one knows that she used to be Andrew. She’s quickly accepted, makes friends and falls for Grant, a boy who’s had troubles of his own to deal with. All goes well until the one person she confided in cruelly reveals Amanda’s secret, along with those of some of her classmates, at the school prom.

Russo admits that she gives Amanda lots of breaks – she’s slim, pretty, passes for a girl with little or no effort. Yet, despite this, readers are in no doubt as to how difficult and even dangerous Amanda’s life is: we see her mum mourning the boy that she’s lost; see how hard it is for her father to accept his child in her new body, and recognise his constant fear that she will be found out and hurt as a result; it’s revealed that a friend from her support group killed herself. It’s made clear too though that Amanda has no choice in living how she does; only as a girl can she be truly herself, and happy. Too many of her friends too have secret lives, hiding who they really are from friends and family, and living half-lives as a result. In one key scene, her mother identifies Amanda’s light-headedness at seeing her new reflection in a mirror not as sickness, as Amanda thinks, but joy. It’s Amanda’s decision to be who she is that allows her a real chance for happiness, and leads her finally to acknowledge that she deserves to be loved.

It’s impossible not to be caught up in Amanda’s story, and even if the book occasionally slips into cliché and some of the supporting characters are stereotypes, it remains powerful, touching and important.

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png 0 0 Angie Hill http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png Angie Hill2016-07-05 18:11:002021-07-02 17:12:00If I Was Your Girl

Search for a specific review

Author Search

Search







Generic filters




Filter by Member Types


Book Author

BfK 254 May 2022 Download BfK Issue BfK 254 May 2022
Skip to an Issue:

About Us

Launched in 1980, we’ve reviewed hundreds of new children’s books each year and published articles on every aspect of writing for children.

Read More

Follow Us

Latest News

Peter Bently and Steven Lenton named winners of The Children’s Book Award 2022

June 27, 2022

Shortlist for the 2022 SLA Information Book Award

June 23, 2022

2022 Yoto Carnegie Greenaway Winners Announced

June 16, 2022

Contact Us

Books for Keeps,
30 Winton Avenue,
London,
N11 2AT

Telephone: 0780 789 3369

ISSN: 0143-909X (this is our International Standard Serial Number).

© Copyright 2022 - Books For Keeps | Proudly Built by Lemongrass Media - Web Design Buckinghamshire
Neffy and the Feathered Dinosaurs The Usborne Outdoor Book: Inspiring ideas for discovering and exploring out...
Scroll to top